Charger Police Cars
 

I know this isn't really news or anything, but I still love seeing the Charger police cars. They just looks so friggin' tough.

http://inventorspot.com/articles/speeders_beware_8575

Without a doubt though, in my mind, Virginia State Troopers is the hottest of the bunch (not pictured in the article) they just look the part; plus the fact that VA State Troopers are genuinely cool cats.

Now makes me wonder if any PD's will get the cajones to get a Challenger Police car? I think it was Florida or North Carolina that used to don the 5 litre Mustang. Albeeno, would probably lend insight on these.

http://www.allpar.com/squads/police-cars/charger.html

I know the colors are bit off, but I swear it reminds of the Grey Ghost. Chrysler should really consider offering two tone factory paint option.

RE: Charger Police Cars
 

I think I good car for the police to have.

I remember when I first got my Dodge Ram in 96. I saw a black one in my rear view mirror, thinking cool, another Dodge Ram. It sure was.[sm=bustedsign.gif] Got a speeding ticket. He didn't turn his lights on, until he was right behind me. [&o]

RE: Charger Police Cars
 

In San Antonio, there's a suburb called Alamo Heights that is completely surrounded by the city. Heights has two of the Charger cop cars, one white with conventional police markings and the other that's dark blue with some kind of marking on the side that's only visible when you're directly to the side of the car -- a little bit to the front or a little bit to the rear and the Alamo Heights Police sign disappears. It's pretty cool. Needless to say, when I got to work in the afternoons, the blue Charger generally has someone pulled over to get a ticket. :D

RE: Charger Police Cars
 

I've read in more than once article about Virginia leading the charge in the U.S. on insanely high speeding fines...

From a recent Autoblog article...

Drivers in Virginia might want to be particularly watchful of speed limits. Surpassing the limit by 15 mph will now cost you $1,250 plus court costs. Topping 80 mph will cost you double that and possibly jail time. All this seems pretty extreme, especially if a driver isn't driving recklessly or the speed limit is set artificially low.

Guess we all now know how they can afford those cool new Charger police cars, no? ;)

RE: Charger Police Cars
 

The Wisconsin State Patrol had the 5.0 Mustangs too. Now I've seen 2 Chargers in the fleet. A light blue one in Waukesha County, Patrolling I-94 west of Milwaukee. The other one is black in Kenosha & Racine counties, patrolling I-94 south of Milwaukee. Both unmarked cars.

RE: Charger Police Cars
 

From what I understand, The exorbitant speeding fines in Virginia ONLY apply to residents. While NO speeding ticket is cheap (with the fine, administrative fees, insurance hike....), I believe the fines for out-of-staters is far lower than natives.

RE: Charger Police Cars
 

That is strange, I guess the thought is the local residents should know better.

I remember I got a ticket on the toll way in California because I was confused by the signs and I apparently passed a toll without paying and a month later I got a ticket in the mail.

I called them about it and in the discussion they determined I was driving a rental vehicle. When they found that out they said, they were going to dismiss the ticket.

They tracked me down because it was a rental via records. They were lenient on me but I guess they just wanted to give me a hard time.

RE: Charger Police Cars
 

I'm seeing more and more of them. They seem to be catching on much better than the Intrepid did. The expression on the front reminds me of Clint Eastwood, "Do you feel lucky, punk?" I think the chances of their being a police package for the Challenger is about as likely as a police package for the convertible PT Crusier. The reason why they had fox body Mustang police packages was that during the 80s, the LTDs, Caprices, and Diplomats were very slow at their stock level as they were heavy and had zero power. The Mustang was able to take off as it weighed less and could give them the performance they were needing. Many of the people who used the Mustangs were complaining that the Mustang had practically no room for their equipment, let alone any rear passengers they would happen to pick up. Ford stopped making a full blown police package for the Mustang for a reason.

The LT1 powered Caprices of the 90s started to regain the market as they offered the room the police were accustomed to, the performance that was rivaling a Mustang, and the safety they sought. The Caprice was discounted after Ford already got the Mustang out of the police market and many of the police were satisfied enough with the Crown Vic. GM tried making Camaro police packages during that time to take over the remains of the market, but there simply wasn't enough sales to the fleets to justify keeping it in production.

The whole thing is it begs the question, why would you bother to buy a Challenger for a police car over a Charger. They will weigh about the same, they will use the same powertrains (with the exception of the Challenger getting a manual, which police prefer automatics on the column for their computers and equipment), a similar suspension, etc. You will end up with a more inconvenient path to put stubborn criminals, less storage room, with no real advantages. If the issue is the police need more power than the 5.7L, it would make more sense to just offer the 6.1L in the Charger. Something to think about, the Magnum police package was not a very hot seller, and that was technically a more practical choice for the police as it had the performance of the Charger with the room for a K-9 unit cage all in one package, and/or more storage space. If the police passed up on that, why would they go with less convenience and space?

RE: Charger Police Cars
 

I don't think they'll be making any Challenger cop cars unless they 4-door 'em.[:'(]
BUt i like the idaho Chargers too.

http://www.isp.state.id.us/news_rele...ger8x10-v2.jpg

RE: Charger Police Cars
 

RLSH700, you answer your own question.

They probably went with the sedans because of some silly stigma or concern over IMAGE. That is the exact same reason they would opt for a Challenger, simply because it'll look tough. I'm not saying they'll have ton's of 'em...but I'd be surprised if there weren't more than a few across the nations PDs or state police.

You're point is absolutely valid, the most practical vehicle would have been the Magnum, but they didn't opt for it.

Think about it, why would they purchase HD's over Honda's or some other more reliable bike? They get Harley's because of image I would venture.